Reuters :
India is pressing ahead with talks to join a China-led free trade pact, officials said on Thursday, despite some domestic producers’ concerns that the country could be flooded with cheaper Chinese imports.
Negotiators for the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are in the Thai capital Bangkok this week for talks aimed at finalising the giant free trade zone by the end of the year.
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will join Indian delegates on the weekend for direct talks with his counterparts from China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
India will be looking for safeguards to be built into the proposed pact to prevent a sudden surge in imports, the trade ministry said in a statement.
Goyal has been holding talks to allay fears of a flood of Chinese imports if New Delhi joins the agreement, the ministry said.
“The focus and emphasis of the meetings chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister was on putting in place appropriate safeguards including auto-trigger mechanism against sudden surge in imports from RCEP countries,” it said in a statement.
India has reached an agreement in principle with other countries to include a safeguard mechanism that would trigger duties if goods are deemed to have been dumped from a partner country, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
Indian producers fear cutting tariffs on dairy and other produce would open the door to cheap Chinese imports and threaten an agriculture sector that supports most of India’s 1.3 billion people.
A political ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has joined opponents of the free trade pact.
India is pressing ahead with talks to join a China-led free trade pact, officials said on Thursday, despite some domestic producers’ concerns that the country could be flooded with cheaper Chinese imports.
Negotiators for the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are in the Thai capital Bangkok this week for talks aimed at finalising the giant free trade zone by the end of the year.
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will join Indian delegates on the weekend for direct talks with his counterparts from China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
India will be looking for safeguards to be built into the proposed pact to prevent a sudden surge in imports, the trade ministry said in a statement.
Goyal has been holding talks to allay fears of a flood of Chinese imports if New Delhi joins the agreement, the ministry said.
“The focus and emphasis of the meetings chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister was on putting in place appropriate safeguards including auto-trigger mechanism against sudden surge in imports from RCEP countries,” it said in a statement.
India has reached an agreement in principle with other countries to include a safeguard mechanism that would trigger duties if goods are deemed to have been dumped from a partner country, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
Indian producers fear cutting tariffs on dairy and other produce would open the door to cheap Chinese imports and threaten an agriculture sector that supports most of India’s 1.3 billion people.
A political ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party has joined opponents of the free trade pact.
